Supporting Sucking Skills in Breastfeeding Infants, Third Edition is an essential resource for healthcare professionals working with new mothers and infants. Using a multidisciplinary approach, it incorporates the latest research on infant sucking and clinical strategies to assist infants with breastfeeding. With an emphasis on skills, it focuses on normal sucking function in addition to difficulties based in anatomical, cardiorespiratory, neurological, or prematurity issues.

Completely updated and revised, the Third Edition explores new clinical strategies for facilitating breastfeeding, more conditions, and the latest guidelines. Throughout the text, numerous photos make techniques and recommended strategies easier to understand and replicate.

Applicable Courses

1 Breastfeeding: Normal Sucking and Swallowing2 Breastfeeding and Perinatal Neuroscience3 Impact of Birth Practices on Infant Suck 4 How Infants Learn to Feed: A Neurobehavioral Model5 They Can Do It, You Can Help: Building Breastfeeding Skill and Confidence in Mother and Helper6 The Goldilocks Problem: Milk Flow That Is Not Too Fast, Not Too Slow, but Just Right (Or, Why Milk Flow Matters and What to Do About It)7 Breastfeeding Preterm Infants8 The Influence of Anatomic and Structural Issues on Sucking Skills9 Minimally Invasive Treatment for Posterior ­Tongue-­Tie (The Hidden ­Tongue-­Tie)10 Hands in Support of Breastfeeding: Manual Therapy11 Sensory Integration and Breastfeeding12 Neurological Issues and Breastfeeding13 Therapeutic Positioning for Breastfeeding14 Counseling Mothers of Infants with Feeding Difficulties

Catherine Watson Genna, BS, IBCLC

Catherine Watson Genna BS, IBCLC is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant in private practice in New York City. Certified in 1992, Catherine is particularly interested in helping moms and babies breastfeed when they have medical challenges. She serves as an active clinical mentor, and speaks to healthcare professionals around the world on assisting breastfeeding babies with anatomical, genetic or neurological problems. Catherine is collaborating with Columbia University and Tel Aviv University Departments of Biomedical Engineering on research projects investigating the biomechanics of the lactating nipple and various aspects of sucking and swallowing during breastfeeding. In addition to this volume, she is the author of Selecting and Using Breastfeeding Tools: Improving Care and Outcomes (Hale 2009) as well as peer-reviewed journal articles. She currently serves as Associate Editor of the United States Lactation Consultant Association’s official journal Clinical Lactation.

“This book offers a wealth of clearly written information about infant sucking skills that is accessible by any healthcare professionals who support breastfeeding mothers and babies and should become part of the IBCLC preparatory canon.” – Karen Meade, BS, MA, RN, IBCLC, LCCE, CPST, Clinical Lactation